on food packages; declaration of allergens
present in flavoring, coloring, or incidental
additives; and a report to Congress by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services
detailing:
●analysis of how foods are unintention-
ally contaminated with allergens during
manufacturing
●advice on industry best practices that
can be employed to prevent cross-
contamination
●description of advisory labeling (such as
“may contain”) incorporated by food
manufacturers
●statement of the number of food facili-
ties inspected in the past 2 years, with a
description of the agents handling a
number of nonconforming facilities, the
nature of the violations and the number
of voluntary recalls, or assurances of
proper labeling
●proposal of rules to define and permit
the use of the term “gluten-free” on
labeling
●improved collection and presentation of
data on the prevalence of food allergies,
clinical significance or serious adverse
events, and modes of treatment for food
allergies
●recommendations on research activities
related to food allergies
●pursuance of Food Code revisions to
provide guidance for the preparation of
allergen-free foods
●provisions for technical assistance to
state and local emergency medical serv-
ices for the treatment and prevention of
food allergy responsesThis act will provide a change in the way
that foods are labeled and increase inspec-
tion by government agencies and the likeli-
hood of more regulations involving handling
and production of foods in environments in
which allergenic agents are handled. Accord-
ing to Cramer (2004), the industry will need
to develop the discipline to implement an
effective allergen control and labeling man-
agement strategy.Allergen Management
The primary responsibility to provide safe
foods free from allergen cross-contamination
belongs to food manufacturers. Because of
variation in plant layout, ingredients, and
products, it may be necessary to incorporate
different allergen management strategies.
According to Cramer (2004), the following
should be incorporated into food manufac-
turing operations to protect against allergens:
●adopt a “zero tolerance” protection pro-
gram against allergen cross-contamina-
tion
●all personnel should be trained in aller-
gen management strategy
●ensure that incoming ingredients are
clearly labeled and that the labels are
reviewed periodically to confirm that
suppliers have not changed ingredients
without notice
●develop an allergen storage policy includ-
ing a procedure for the cleanup of spills
●design equipment to facilitate cleaning
and the prevention of allergen harbor-
age niches
●conduct an allergen risk assessment as
part of or in addition to the HACCP
program
●clean between rounds of allergen ingre-
dients
●adopt a comprehensive rework policy,
including clear identification of work-
in-process materials and reworks
●reject in-process materials or finished
products suspected of cross-contamina-
tion
●review labels before use and confirm
that the correct labels are incorporated
in the process